James Cook first saw the kangaroo in Australia, noting it as a gangurru.
Yes. The word "kangaroo" is believed to have come from the Aboriginal word gangurru, a Guugu Yimidhirr word referring to the Grey Kangaroo.
There were originally around 250 aboriginal language groups in Australia, so there would have been many different words for the kangaroo. The most commonly known word is gangurru.
There are many words for kangaroo in the Australian aboriginal language. The Aborigines of Australia had over 250 languages between their 600+ cultural groups prior to European settlement.The most commonly known word is gangurru. It is the word from which "kangaroo" is derived.
Sea explorer James Cook and his crew were the first known Europeans to record observations of the kangaroo. Botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who was aboard Cook's ship The Endeavour, made the first detailed notes on the creature, recording the Aboriginal word "gangurru" as "kangaru".
The question gives misinformation, but the answer is Sir Joseph Banks. Sir Joseph Banks was one of three botanists who travelled with Captain James Cook as he charted the eastern coastline of Australia. Banks managed to communicate in a limited fashion with the indigenous people, asking what they called the animal, and recorded the name "gangurru" as "kangaru". It is a complete myth that the aboriginal word means "I don't know". Because the Endeavour was damaged and required the crew to stay on the mainland for almost 7 weeks repairing their ship, this gave Banks ample time to make copious notes on the fauna and flora. It is incorrect to say that it means "I don't understand you" or "I don't know".
Yes. The word is believed to have come from the Aboriginal word gangurru, a Guugu Yimidhirr word referring to the Grey Kangaroo. Captain James Cook's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, first recorded the word as "kangaru" when the Endeavour was damaged on the Great Barrier Reef near modern-day Cooktown.
Kangaroos do not actually stand for anything. They symbolise Australia, although they are not the country's official faunal emblem (Australia has no national faunal emblem). Kangaroos are associated with Australia because they are native to Australia and readily recognisable animals. The word "kangaroo" is derived from the original indigenous word "gangurru", which is simply the aboriginal word for kangaroos. It does not have any other meaning, and does not stand for anything else.
Lieutenant James Cook (not yet a captain at the time of this incident) first recorded seeing a kangaroo when his ship was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef near the present day site of Cooktown in 1770. He brought the Endeavour in to what is now the Endeavour River for repairs, and he and his crew spent some six weeks repairing it. On 4 August 1770, the name of the marsupial was recorded as "Kangooroo or Kanguru". The name was derived from gangurru, used by the local indigenous people, the Guugu Yimidhirr, to refer to the Grey kangaroo. Contrary to popular myth, the name does not mean "I don't understand you".
The word "kangaroo" is believed to have come from the Aboriginal word gangurru, a Guugu Yimidhirr word referring to the Grey Kangaroo. Captain James Cook's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, first recorded the word as "kangaru" when the Endeavour was damaged on the Great Barrier Reef near modern-day Cooktown, and required the crew to stay on the mainland for almost 7 weeks repairing their ship. This gave Banks ample time to make copious notes on the fauna and flora, and to be certain of the Aboriginal word for kangaroo, even though he had trouble translating it into written form. It could be that "Kangaroo" is the name of a specific type of kangaroo in one Australian aboriginal language. Europeans applied the name to all similar creatures.
The indigenous people of Australia, commonly referred to as Aborigines, knew about kangaroos for thousands of years before anyone else. Sea explorer James Cook and his crew were the first known Europeans to record observations of the kangaroo, doing so in 1770. Botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who was aboard Cook's ship The Endeavour, made the first detailed notes on the creature, recording the Aboriginal word "gangurru" as "kangaru".
It is not known where or when the Australian Aborigines first discovered kangaroos. The kangaroo was first discovered by Europeans in northeastern Australia, when the Endeavour was damaged on the Great Barrier Reef near modern-day Cooktown, and required the crew to stay on the mainland for almost 7 weeks repairing their ship. This was near the site of the present-day Endeavour River. When an animal was shot in July 1770, James Cook's botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, first recorded the word as "kangaru" as spoken to him by the local indigenous people.